People helping People….

One’s faith in humanity has been somewhat restored after seeing all of the good work being done here in Vanuatu post Cyclone Pam, by a range of Governments, charitable organisations and individuals.
For the rest of the world Cyclone Pam might be last year’s news, but luckily not for everyone.

It may not be pretty, it may not be very well coordinated, it may be inefficient and perhaps poorly directed, but despite this, some real help is getting through to the ground and the communities that need it!

Over the last few nights, I have had the pleasure of the company of Oliver and Mickson, a couple of Nivans based in Vila. They are working for the Farm Support Association, which is significantly funded through Oxfam, assisting communities in setting up small scale agricultural ventures by providing training, equipment and access to funding, as well as ongoing support for up to three years while their businesses develop.

On Monday, which was Assention Day here, (the third public holiday since I arrived!) I went for a bike ride up the coast to the Rano/Wala communities. There I encountered a heap of ‘white people’ heading for a local church service wearing uniform polo shirts branded with ‘Marine Reach’. After chatting with a few locals, I found out that these people from various countries , had all come from a NZ based ship, the Pacific Hope, which was anchored out in the bay and that they were here for a couple of weeks to provide primary health care, optometry and dental clinics. I later found out the Marine Reach is a branch of the international organisation Youth with a Mission (YWAM) and they run ongoing trips around Vanuatu at this time of the year, coming and going from Vila to swap volunteer health workers.
Note a RNZ National piece on this programme done last year: http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/programmes/datelinepacific/audio/201773266/nz-medical-ship-visits-vanuatu

There is also of course foreign Governments here doing a range of good things (although probably for their own strategic reasons….) the Chinese building new parliament buildings in Vila, a new wharf in Santo and a new ‘coaltar’ road between Norsup and Lakatoro outside my gate.

The Australians funding a range of things including roading improvements and an important vocational training organisation known as TVET and NZ funding also directly or indirectly funding a variety of other economic development, health, security and education projects.

As expected, the Red Cross also features prominently through a range of rebuilding projects with Red Cross water tanks being a prominent feature on Paama to name one recently cited example…

VSA personnel and the equivalent organisations from Australia (AVID) and the US (Peace Corp) are also scattered throughout the archipelago imbedded in hospitals, health centre, schools and other organisations, often for long periods of up to (and sometimes beyond) 2 years.

On top of this I have encountered many examples of where NZ or Australian Rotary Clubs or Churches are supporting a particular village and its rebuilding efforts or at other times even individuals that have had an enjoyable holiday prior to Pam, heard about the damage and donated directly back to the places and people they met when here.

Despite the rest of the world inflicting various nasty things upon the Pacific, (including most recently climate change) some good things are going on to improve the quality of life for our neighbours….

These may be small relative to the need, but it’s something!